IDLES

J. Burns wrote:Something about the vocals and lyrics isn’t clicking for me.

Colossus is one the best songs I've heard in years and “I am my father’s son/His shadow weighs a ton” is perfect.

The new album is a fantastic piece of work, the recording is superb.

That's a good lyric. A lot of the other stuff kinda strikes me as entry-level Wokebook 101 stuff and I'm glad that they're on the side of good and not evil but the "this snowflake is an avalanche" type stuff doesn't hit for me and the repetition of a lot of the lyrics makes it worse.

The vibe I get from the singer fellow is that he hasn't been in 80 bands before and this is his first go 'round with it. I like that about him. He's not jaded and/or too clever again by half, as they say.

Yeah, some of it is knuckleheaded oi-ish stuff, but at least it's not Skrewdriver.

I love this band, though I can't always explain why in terms that would satisfy the more cork-sniffery post-hardcore folks I know. I'm ok with that.

Anthony Flack wrote:The sax would be a cool instrument if people would only stop making it go burrrrrBLEEEEEE.

Hmm. I just discovered this band about a week before Joy came out, and each listen to each album makes it grow more and more on to me. I really, really love the relentless posi energy of the new album. "Television" in particular has latched onto my cortex like a fucking Trill.

If someone talked to youThe way you do to youI'd put their teeth throughLove yourselfAnd that's what they doThe bastards made youNot want to look like youSo you pay through the noseTo look like someone elseAll the weirdos on the shelfLove yourselfLove yourselfLove yourselfI go outside and I feel free'Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TVI go outside and I feel free'Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV

Fuck, maybe that is "wokebook 101" or whatever but it's fucking desperately needed in both the UK and the States right now and i'll take it. Solid NC from me.

Stinky Pete wrote:BDSM is a bit like Queens of the Stone Age in that it's basically fine to be into, but a bit worrying if you're obsessed with it.

I love this band, though I can't always explain why in terms that would satisfy the more cork-sniffery post-hardcore folks I know. I'm ok with that.

Solid points. Funny, it’s the punk rock tropes that turn me off and 90s post-hardcore is/was my core guitar music go to. When I first listened to Joy I didn’t rate it until June came up. The album reminds me of TJL Down...

I think they could really go beyond... if they dropped the 70s British punk oi oi/yaddy yaddys but I think that’s not likely to happen.

clocker bob may 30, 2006 wrote:I think the possibility of interbreeding between an earthly species and an extraterrestrial species is as believable as any other explanation for the existence of George W. Bush.

llllllllllllllllllllllll wrote:Joy As An Act Of Resistance is a horrible title. I roll my eyes every time I see it. What’s the next one going to be, Self-care Is Revolutionary?

Yeah. You're not wrong. I mean I like that they're outspoken Corbyn supporters and champion the NHS, but there's still a flakiness to them which when combined with the "Oi 2.0" anthemic elements isn't quite my jam.

It'd be cool if they had politics as incisive as Gang of Four back in the day (or like Third World War for that matter — "I want a no-bullshit, working class band—I've had enough of all this pseudo peace crap.") or if the lyrics approached the unhinged, razory creativity of Mark E Smith, but those are high bars. And I still prefer "Woke 101" earnestness to many of the bro-ternatives, including the detached apoliticism of a lot of classic aluminum necked beard rock of the 90s and 00s. There was kind of a luxury of apoliticism for white-dude rock nerds for a good while, and at least these guys are trying to take up toxic masculinity in what they do. That's good. And while pushing back against anti-immigrant hysteria is a low bar in my books, it's still more than what many bands have chosen to do with their platforms. They feel some responsibility and urgency and I respect that. And I like the playing. Like the drums, like the bass, like the guitars.